http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=16991 <http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=16991&hed=Google%E2%80%99s+Tangled +Wireless+Push§or=Industries&subsector=InternetAndServices> &hed=Google%E2%80%99s+Tangled+Wireless+Push§or=Industries&subsector=Internet AndServices Googles Tangled Wireless Push
Exec dishes on challenges search giant faces in its plan to unwire two California cities. May 24, 2006 Chris Sacca, Googles municipal Wi-Fi champion, has been spending a lot of time outside the comforts of the geeky Googleplex recently negotiating the often-frustrating world of city politics. And it hasnt always gone smoothly. For example, at a public meeting in Googles hometown of Mountain View, California, an angry elderly gentleman took a swing at Mr. Sacca after claiming Wi-Fi hardware had negative effects on health. When you put a box in someones neighborhood, it really changes the game, Mr. Sacca said after a panel discussion at the Red Herring Spring conference in Monterey, California, on Wednesday. As a result, he said Google has to be very nimble when trying to alter public perception. But the company has more than just a public relations campaign on its hands. The search giant also has the mighty tasks of building and running wireless networks. In April, Google and EarthLink won a bid to build a wireless network for San Francisco, and Google plans a similar network in Mountain View A driving factor for the Mountain View project, explained Mr. Sacca, is the prospect of Google engineers using the network at home, potentially to create more useful applications. However, building infrastructure and acting as a service provider isnt something with which Google has much experience. Its a process of learning. There are a lot of things that we wish we knew six months ago, said Mr. Sacca, who is the companys head of special initiatives. Obstacles Ahead Already Google is facing hurdles in the slow-moving, very political process of building what some perceive as a public service. To start with, Googles local advertising revenue from the network wont come anywhere close to the estimated $15 million in infrastructure costs, said Mr. Sacca. Thats because neither the technology nor business model is yet in place to start driving a location-based advertising economy around local businesses. These networks arent even close to repaying themselves. Revenues from an ad-based model are at least two years away, he said. First Google must overcome the layers of bureaucracy surrounding city politics and the real-world intricacies of building a citywide network. The search giant, which prides itself on its bottom-up innovation process and flexible approach to development, now has to contend with hiring union workers for network construction and attending endless meetings with public committees and review boards. (if they don't want to use city property to cheaply roll out their network, then they wouldn't have to deal with these issues - like solving the Digital Divide etc - kimo) Mr. Sacca sees common complaints about the Google Wi-Fi projects as alarmist concerns, and has a firm response to each of them. For example, he argued that the radiation from access points on light posts is nothing compared to whats emanating from the cell phone in your pocket. He also downplayed concerns about user privacy. The amount of personal informationa user name and passwordrequired under the San Francisco plan is far less than that demanded by a cable provider or a mobile carrier, he noted. (Why is login required at all for the Free network? - kimo) Light at the End But amid all the repetitious questions and headaches, Mr. Sacca thinks helping wireless broadband access become cheaper and more ubiquitous is worth it. Theres been a barrier to cheap wireless broadband, he said, referring specifically to moves by the cable and phone incumbents to protect their franchises. Our goal is to help with that. (Google isn't doing this out of the goodness of their heart to break those franchises - kimo) Mr. Sacca reiterated that Google has no plans to move beyond the two San Francisco Bay Area networks. If the company had ever entertained such thoughts, nine months worth of rolling with the punches must have changed its mind. <http://xpostmail.com/370a8217757b7b2e3d74b51fe65da25aworker.jpg> -- NYCwireless - http://www.nycwireless.net/ Un/Subscribe: http://lists.nycwireless.net/mailman/listinfo/nycwireless/ Archives: http://lists.nycwireless.net/pipermail/nycwireless/
